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Topic: D 3 softball (Read 165704 times)

Good points indeed. However, the event in my initial post occurred; Linfield did not get in. Pre conference tournament they were 32-8 and finished second in the NWC (rated #2 conference by Hero Sports). Then they have a bad day (or two) and go 0-2 in conference tournament and boom they are out of the NCAAs. I have no doubt they are one of the best 62 teams in D3 softball and IMO should have gotten an at large bid. Linfield problem was they were ranked #6 in a tough West region. Wittenberg had the same type situation except they were the #1 seed in their conference tournament. They too went 0-2 in conference and ultimately did not get an NCAA bid. They finished 29-7 and ranked #3 in the Central region. Oddly, the #6 team in the Central (Hope) got an at large bid.Moravian also did not get in to the NCAA dispute a 36-6 record and a #3 Atlantic regional ranking. They too lost 2 games in their conference tournament. Its interesting that 2 teams ranked lower than them in the Atlantic got at large births; Emory & Henry and Randolph-Macon.

The situations of Wittenberg and Moravian make me think that the NCAA predetermines how many teams are coming from a particular conference. Whoever wins the AQ is in and all others are not.

While the case of keeping the race interesting through the entire year is a valid point; in the big picture it can only hurt the better teams. If they win their conference tournament they are in as they should have been but if they stumble just for a day, a whole season is done.

While the case of keeping the race interesting through the entire year is a valid point; in the big picture it can only hurt the better teams. If they win their conference tournament they are in as they should have been but if they stumble just for a day, a whole season is done.

Yes, but to reiterate my first point, and answer your initial question: Conference tournaments are about providing another avenue for teams to make the postseason. The powers that be have determined that is more important than simply rewarding the "best" teams from the regular season

It's no different than conferences in football getting AQs and there being very few at large bids. Creating clear paths for access trumps putting the best field together

I don't know if it necessarily the "powers that be" that make the decision but more of a simple majority. At least that is the way in the conference that I am familiar with. And if that is how it is determined then it will never change, the "want to be" teams will always vote for an extra shot.

As much as it infuriates me with the way the NCAA handles D2 and D3 postseasons I guess I will just have to live with it. You know, death, taxes and the NCAA not carrying about non $$ making events.

Anyway, if the seeding is going to be done geographically and regionally then just do it that way and then stick to it. The NCAA will come out late in the year with a D3 softball ranking of teams regionally. They will update this 2 or 3 things before the selection. Then come selection time, boom they jumble the teams all up moving teams out of their region as they see fit. I assume this is all done to save $$ on travel.

Last year, after Virginia Wesleyan coach complained on Twitter about his "tough" regional, the NCAA committee came out and said they would "attempt" to not schedule the better teams playing each other early in the tournament. But I guess it's okay later in the tournament. I guess this gives them an excuse for moving teams under the disguise of not matching up the better teams but really just doing whatever they want to do. From looking at this year's tournament makeup, the only region that stays to itself is the West. All others have teams from multiple regions.

And if that is how it is determined then it will never change, the "want to be" teams will always vote for an extra shot.

Yes. But again, that's the whole point: What's best for the majority of student-athletes?

And this has nothing to do with revenue. The D1 men's hoops tournament has a billion dollar a year TV contract, and they still have avenues for a team like Holy Cross to go 10-19 in the regular season and qualify for the tournament. Believe me, if D1 football ever goes to 8 or 16 teams for their playoffs, they're going to do the same thing. Autobids will always be a thing. Access trumps everything.

You're certainly not alone in this, but you should also realize that, in a sport with 400+ teams, the idea that we can determine with any degree of certainty who the "best" 64 (or however many) are is a fool's errand. This is especially true in D-III, which is a lot more local and regional than D-I, leaving you with little common ground to compare teams

D1 Hoops has everything to do with revenue. Conference basketball tournaments at the D1 level have high attendance levels with corporate sponsors and generate huge amounts of money. Duke vs. NC for a third time each year. You bet!!I am sure D1 football would love to do it. Give them more chances to fill a 70,000 seat football stadium and have more TV revenue, heck yea!! A D3 conference tournament is lucky to draw 1,000 fans over a 3 or 4 day event. No money there; probably go in the hole.

Over than the independents, you play a 20-30 game conference schedule with most playing a round robin format. I think that provides an adequate method of determining who the best in a conference is. Does the NCAA or anyone for that matter want a bunch of sub .500 teams in their "national" tournament?

Does the NCAA or anyone for that matter want a bunch of sub .500 teams in their "national" tournament?

Yes.

That is why they have designed the system in a way that allows those teams chances to get in. They could easily say "Regular season champs get the auto-bid" or, to be totally safe "There are no auto-bids and everyone is at large". They have chosen a system that allows teams to go 5-23 in the regular season and have a path to the national tournament

D3 World Series is being played at Hall of Fame Complex in OKC. Just saw that the first day all teams get to play in the main stadium. Then games being played Friday, Saturday and Sunday go to one of the other fields at the complex. Finals will be played back in the main stadium. What a complete slap in the face of the D3 teams. Congrats girls, you get to go to OKC to play softball but sorry, you can only play one game on the good field.

Oh, it gets even better for D3 student athletes and parents at the World Series. From the OKC folks running the tournament:

The student-athlete banquet will be held Wednesday, May 24, at the Sheraton Oklahoma City Hotel on the Second Floor in the Century Ballroom. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the banquet will begin at 7 p.m. The 23 members of each teamís official travel party will be admitted to the banquet via a pass list. Any additional individuals associated with the team (e.g., student-athletes, administrators, parents, etc.) must purchase a ticket for $40 for the banquet. Each team will be allocated a maximum of 10 tickets for purchase beyond the official travel party. The deadline to submit banquet ticket order forms (Appendix C) is 5 p.m. Eastern time Monday, May 22.

So a max of 33 folks from one institution may attend including ADs, trainers, SID and parents. So who will get left out...the parents; including those whose daughter is getting an award. Again, pretty crappy if your daughter makes All American and you can't go to see it. Lovely NCAA.

D3 World Series is being played at Hall of Fame Complex in OKC. Just saw that the first day all teams get to play in the main stadium. Then games being played Friday, Saturday and Sunday go to one of the other fields at the complex. Finals will be played back in the main stadium. What a complete slap in the face of the D3 teams. Congrats girls, you get to go to OKC to play softball but sorry, you can only play one game on the good field.

Here is a story from the D3 championship in OKC. On Thursday, one of the parents got light headed and was not feeling well. Someone asked about getting the onsite medical staff to look at here and the stadium's folks response was, "we will have medical staff on hand for D1 next week."

b. Seeding of teams for finals site.(1) Recommendation. That the final eight teams be seeded after the conclusion of super regional competition to better balance bracket play at the finals site.(2) Effective date. 2018 championship.(3) Rationale.The committee believes that seeding the final eight teams after the conclusion of super regional competition will help to avoid stronger teams meeting in early-round games at the finals site. The committee will use the selection criteria in the NCAA online score-reporting system, with results updated through super regional competition, to compare and rank teams, and then pair teams according to traditional bracketing principles (#1 vs. #8, #2 vs. #7, etc.). The committee noted that this process would be consistent with the process the Championships Committee recently approved for the baseball and womenís volleyball championships.(4) Estimated budget impact. None.(5) Student-athlete impact. None.

Never understand why it took this long for this to happen other than just the NCAA didn't really give a rat's rear. Notice the budget impact; $0.00.